RED BULL SIGNS ALLMENDIGER FOR CUP RIDE
Team Red Bull has made the formal announcement that A.J. Allmendinger has signed a multi-year contract to race the number eighty for Toyota Camry in 2007. Allmendinger this year has competed in two Craftsman Truck Series races this season for veteran cup owner Bill Davis. Allmendinger joins fellow cup driver Brian Vickers next year with the new team, he comes with an impressive resume; a former Toyota Atlantic Champion, Champ Car Rookie of the Year honors and currently sits second in the 2006 Champ Car World Series points race, with currently five wins this season.

Veteran Nextel Cup driver Bill Elliot was originally slated to race the races at Atlanta and Texas has opted to allow Allmendinger to drive at those races for Team Red Bull. Rick Viers, who had been Allmendinger's crew chief in the two Craftsman Truck Series races, has also signed on to be his crew chief for Red Bull as well. All parties involved are looking forward to a good showing in 2007.

BUSCH SERIES
HARVICK WINS EIGHTH RACE OF 2006; MONTOYA FINISHED ELEVENTH IN DEBUT

What can be said about Kevin Harvick this year in the Busch Series? In one word – unbeatable, in Saturday's Sam's Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park; Harvick won his eighth race this year. Harvick was able to take the advantage on Carl Edwards' bad restart in overtime to jump up and pass him to get the lead and take along teammate Clint Bowyer to finish one, two when they crossed the finish line. Edwards ended up finishing third in the only Ford in the top five finishers, the rest was Chevrolets. Johnny Sauter finished fourth and Shane Huffman finished fifth.

Juan Pablo Montoya made his debut in the Busch Series and in many pre-race interviews he had fears of looking like an "idiot”. Even after a mid-race accident he was able to continue the race and finished an impressive eleventh place. Even though the car was somewhat damaged after the race, his car owner Chip Ganassi said, "Mission accomplished” and followed up by saying, "Style points are for the runway during fashion week.” Montoya who had a large contingent of fans that sat in the corner section wore yellow hats and shirts and wave Columbian flags each time he drove by them. "It was pretty wild, to be honest, I learned you have to pace yourself,” Montoya said after the race.

Although Harvick has clinched the Championship there are three more races to go, so it will be a battle for the top four in points with Carl Edwards leading Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and J. J. Yeley.



BUSCH SERIES
TOP TEN FINISHERS
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Clint Bowyer
3. Carl Edwards
4. Johnny Sauter
5. Shane Huffman
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Reed Sorenson
8. Danny O'Quinn Jr*
9. Kasey Kahne
10. J. J. Yeley

TOP TEN IN POINTS
1. Kevin Harvick – 5133
2. Carl Edwards – 4343
3. Clint bowyer – 4276
4. Denny Hamlin – 4200
5. J. J. Yeley – 4027
6. Paul Menard – 3772
7. Kyle Busch – 3680
8. Greg Biffle – 3519
9. Johnny Sauter – 3472
10. Reed Sorenson – 3432

CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
BACK IN VICTORY LANE FOR BLISS

The last time former Craftsman Truck Series Champion Mike Bliss saw Victory Lane was four years ago. Bliss started sixteenth and drove a smart race and with fifteen laps to go he was able to catch the lead pack and pull into second place following Erik Darnell when rookie Arik Almiroa's truck caught fire bringing out the final caution of the race that totaled seven in the EasyCare Vehicle Services Contract 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

When the race restarted Bliss was able to jump into the lead and pull away from the pack. Terry Cook was able to also get passed Darnell with four laps remaining in a valiant effort to catch Bliss, but had to settle for a second place finish with Darnell finished third. David Reutimann finished fourth and Rick Crawford finished fifth. Bliss said after the race, "Our Silverado was fast, I couldn't believe how fast it was. It never pushed all night and was really good in traffic.” He even overcame a mistake on lap seventy-nine when he started to leave the pits with loose lug nuts, but his crew was able to correct the problem and he continued on his way to victory.

Todd Bodine current point's leader had a rough night and had to pit under green flag conditions when he suffered a flat tire that dropped him down two laps. Bodine had a seventy-nine point lead over Johnny Benson going into the race and after the flat tire incident Benson claimed the lead in points, but it wasn't long that he crashed on lap eighty-nine, but returned to the race seven laps down. At the end Bodine finished twenty-fifth and Benson finished twenty-ninth and now trails Bodine by eighty-six points. Bodine said after the race, "At least we both had problems the same day, so it was a wash”.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
TOP TEN FINISHERS
1. Mike Bliss
2. Terry Cook
3. Erik Darnell*
4. David Reutimann
5. Rick Crawford
6. David Ragan
7. Chad McCumbee*
8. Mike Skinner
9. Bobby Hamilton Jr
10. Jack Sprague

TOP TEN IN POINTS
1. Todd Bodine – 3285
2. Johnny Benson – 3199
3. David Reutimann – 3095
4. Ted Musgrave – 3014
5. Rick Crawford – 3006
6. David Starr – 2944
7. Ron Hornaday Jr – 2913
8. Jack Sprague – 2867
9. Terry Cook – 2836
10. Mike Bliss – 2861


NEXTEL CUP
STEWART WINS, WITH JOHNSON GAINING POINTS

Atlanta Motor Speedway played host to the Bass Pro Shops 500 on Sunday with Tony Stewart, who didn't make the Chase for the Nextel Cup, taking the win and Jimmie Johnson gaining a lot of ground in his bid to win the Championship. Stewart won his fourth race of 2006 and his second in the ten race playoff among the top ten chasing the championship. Stewart said after climbing the fence to get the checker flag and salute the fans, "It's better than last year, we were in last year and couldn't win any of these, so it's a lot of fun.”

Jimmie Johnson who four weeks ago was eighth in points and trailing Jeff Burton who was the leader in points at the time by one hundred fifty-six points; with his consistency and finishing second in Sunday's race he sits now second in points trailing points leader Matt Kenseth by twenty-six points. Dale Earnhardt Jr, who looked as if he had the race won after losing a lap early in the race because of a flat tire, took the lead when the leaders all pitted with nineteen laps to go. At the end Earnhardt Jr was able to hold off point's leader and finished third which moved him up to fourth in the points race trailing Kenseth by eighty-four points. Kenseth, who started on the pole because of the rain and officials started the race by points, ended up finishing fourth and his teammate Greg Biffle finished fifth. Denny Hamlin finished eighth in the race, moved up to third in points and Jeff Burton started fifth finished thirteenth and is now fifth in points trailing Kenseth by eighty-four points.

NEXTEL CUP
TOP TEN FINISHERS
1. Tony Stewart
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Greg Biffle
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Carl Edwards
8. Denny Hamlin*
9. Joe Nemechek
10. Robby Gordon


TOP TEN IN POINTS
1. Matt Kenseth – 6008
2. Jimmie Johnson – 5892
3. Denny Hamlin* - 5943
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr – 5924
5. Jeff Burton – 5924
6. Kevin Harvick – 5887
7. Jeff Gordon – 5862
8. Mark Martin – 5807
9. Kasey Kahne – 5798
10. Kyle Busch - 5759